“People will go to the stadium, not to see Unión Comercio, but to see the former Jotita dribbler”: why we should believe in the latest return of the ‘Rei’

In the eighties, for example, many of us cream fans had the right to Franco Navarro even though he did not defend the U shirt but that of Municipal (and when Independiente of Argentina hired him, we became followers of that team exclusively because of the attacker Peruvian); His great performance with the national team in the World Cup Qualifiers in Mexico 86 had been key to winning the affection of the people regardless of the fact that he came from a rival quarry.

Before, I had experienced that same paradox only with César Cueto, and then, from then on, with other talented figures who I wish had been signed by the U for a season. I think of Potrillo Escobar, Chorri Palacios, Jefferson Farfán, Pizarro, Guerrero, etc. They were so damn good – whether in the national team or in their clubs – that you couldn’t help but applaud them, even mentally. When they faced your team, you hoped they would get injured soon or be sent off, that they would have a bad afternoon; You insulted them from the stands, but that insult was just disguised praise. With the red and white team, on the other hand, the only thing you wanted was for the ball to reach them as soon as possible so that they could show their virtues to the world. How boring football would be for fans if we could only build altars and forge idolatries with players from the team with which we identify. One also needs to worship the forbidden.

In 2007, we were all delighted with the Jotitas from Professor Oré; Of course, they qualified for the U17 World Cup and advanced to the quarterfinals. The undisputed figure of that cast was number 7, the link, a certain Reimond Manco. Or King. There was no way not to admit that this was a player with a right foot touched by fairies. How lucky Alianza is to have him on their roster.

But just as we saw Manco become a star in a few years, his fall occurred with a similar vertigo. The reasons are known: bad nights, bad meetings, the harmful effects of fame and money at an early age, show business, touch me I am reality. At less than twenty-five years old, Manco was already a former player, a retired soccer player. In a parallel universe it would have been his turn, not Cuevita, to lead the Peruvian team in Russia 2018; In that same universe it was Manco who took the penalty against Denmark (and yes, he scored).

In the years after his sporting debacle, Reimond failed in every attempt to reinvent himself and ended up finding a moderately profitable refuge in sports talk.

Until one day, recently, perhaps after verifying the low level of the local league, Reimond looked in the mirror and glimpsed in the back of the glass the reflection of the Jotita that he embodied in the past. Maybe at that moment he decided to rescue his chimpunes from the back of the closet and become an idol again.

Unión Comercio has just announced it as its new goal for 2024. Nobody knows how this adventure will end (or maybe it will, but we prefer to believe in an occasional miracle). The truth is that his hiring is a stimulus for the medium. Manco was a star at twenty, and perhaps he will still be at thirty-three. People will come to the stadium, not to see the Rioja team, but to see him, the former dribbler Jotita. They will want the ball to reach their right foot quickly and, right there, in that first touch, we will know if the magic is back, we will know if the boy is a lie or reality.

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